Metal-bound carbenes

Alkoxycarbene complexes with unsaturation in the alkyl side chain rather than the alkoxy chain underwent similar intramolecular photoreactions (Eqs. 10 and 11) [60]. Cyclopropyl carbene complexes underwent a facile vinyl-cyclopropane rearrangement, presumably from the metal-bound ketene intermediate (Eqs. 12 and 13) [61]. A cycloheptatriene carbene complex underwent a related [6+2] cycloaddition (Eq. 14) [62]. 

When a reaction appears to involve a species that reacts as expected for a carbene but must still be at least partially bound to other atoms, the term carbenoid is used. Some carbenelike processes involve transition metal ions. In many of these reactions, the divalent carbene is bound to the metal. Some compounds of this type are stable, whereas others exist only as transient intermediates. In most cases, the reaction involves the metal-bound carbene, rather than a free carbene. 

For very electrophilic carbene ligands bound to a metal center which also has coordinated an aromatic phosphine ligand,there is the possibility of the following intramolecular substitution reaction leading to a metallacycle ... 

The reactivity of carbenes is strongly influenced by the electronic properties of their substituents. If an atom with a lone pair (e.g. O, N, or S) is directly bound to the carbene carbon atom, the electronic deficit at the carbene will be compensated to some extent by electron delocalization, resulting in stabilization of the reactive species. If both substituents are capable of donating electrons into the empty p orbital of the carbene, isolable carbenes, as e.g. diaminocarbenes (Section 2.1.6), can result. The second way in which carbenes can be stabilized consists in complexation. The shape of the molecular orbitals of carbenes enable them to act towards transition metals as a-donors and 71-acceptors. The chemical properties of the resulting complexes will also depend on the electronic properties of the metallic fragment to which the carbene is bound. Particularly relevant for the reactivity of carbene complexes are the ability of the metal to accept a-electrons from the carbene, and its capacity for back-donation into the empty p orbital of the carbene. 

Two of the most characteristic reactions of carbene complexes are olefin metathesis and olefin cyclopropanation. Olefin metathesis is a reaction in which the C-C double bond of an alkene is cleaved, and one of the resulting alkylidene fragments combines with the metal-bound carbene to form a new alkene. The second alkylidene fragment forms a new carbene eomplex with the metal. Olefin cyclopropanation is a reaction in which a a bond is formed between the metal-bound alkylidene and each of the two carbon atoms of the alkene, to yield a cyclopropane. 

However, with substrates prone to form carbocations, complete hydride abstraction from the alkane, followed by electrophilic attack of the carbocation on the metal-bound, newly formed alkyl ligand might be a more realistic picture of this process (Figure 3.38). The regioselectivity of C-H insertion reactions of electrophilic transition metal carbene complexes also supports the idea of a carbocation-like transition state or intermediate. 

Intramolecular C-H bond insertion and ylide formation can compete with cyclopropanation. As shown in Figure 4.21, however, the chemoselectivity of the intermediate carbene complex can sometimes be controlled by the remaining metal-bound ligands [21,990,1075,1081,1223]. 

Reaction of diazo compounds with a variety of transition metal compounds leads to evolution of nitrogen and formation of products of the same general type as those formed by thermal and photochemical decomposition of diazoalkanes. These transition metal-catalyzed reactions in general appear to involve carbenoid intermediates in which the carbene becomes bound to the metal.83 The metals which have been used most frequently in synthesis are copper and rhodium. 

Certain transition metal complexes catalyze the decomposition of diazo compounds, where the metal-bound carbene intermediates behave differently from the free species generated by their photolysis or thermolysis. 

The metal-bound carbene or alkylidene carbons of the aforementioned classes of compounds resonate in ranges nicely separated from each other (1SC 8 ppm) ... 

The photochemical generation of metal-bound ketenes from carbene-chromium complexes and the subsequent coupling with imines to give azetidin-2-ones is treated separately (Section 2.01.3.10.5). 

It is unfortunate that the term carbenoid is used for two distinct classes of molecule—usually it refers to the transition-metal bound carbene formed by metal-catalysed decomposition of diazo compounds (see p. 1057)—and for this reason the carbenoids that we are discussing here are best referred to as lithium carbenoids, with the metal specified. 

Thus, the photolysis of Fischer carbenes opens up, under extremely mild (neutral) conditions, a synthetic access to electron-rich alkoxy- or amino ketenes which are difficult or impossible to synthesize through other means. These ketene intermediates are generated as metal-bound species in low stationary concentrations (less side reactions ), but can be further reacted in a variety of synthetically useful ways. In recent years, several synthetic methods exploiting this chemistry have been developed to a remarkable level of maturity. This article wants to briefly highlight this chemistry by discussing a few selected applications. 

Irradiation of Fischer carbene complexes generates, by insertion of carbon monoxide, a metal-bound ketene intermediate. Photolytic reactions of carbene complexes are synthetically attractive, in that the reaction conditions are mild and the reactions of ketene intermediates with a variety of reagents is of significant scope. A low concentration of metal-bound ketene is probably obtained and in the absence of a nucleophile, the starting material can usually be recovered even after prolonged irradiation. The ketene intermediates are readily trapped with nucleophiles for example, dipeptides are formed in excellent yield and with very high diastereoselectivity upon irradiation of optically active carbenes in the presence of natural or urmatural a-amino acids (Scheme 28). Dipeptides and PEG-supported amino acids and dipeptides can also be used as nucleophiles. 

The generation of sulfonium yhdes relies mostly on three strategies (Scheme 78). The classic variant uses sulfide alkylation to the sulfonium salts 316 which can be deprotonated to dehver the desired yhdes 317 [180,181]. A related method involves silane 320 as the alkylating agent to allow for regioselective ylide generation via fluoride ion induced desilylation [182]. Finally, the action of carbenes 319 or metal-bound carbenoids offers a direct means for ylide generation [183,184]. 

The catalytic cycle begins with a metal carbene complex (96), which may be added directly to the reaction mixture or is afforded rapidly upon displacement of a suitable ligand on the metal center by the alkene. Subsequent addition to this carbene complex by another alkene (97) forms a metallacyclobutane intermediate, which can readily dissociate to a metaUacarbene complex and an alkene. In some catalysts, the metal bound carbene species has a high rotation barrier, which allows interaction of an empty pz orbital of the carbene complex with the incoming alkene (Scheme 22). 

Various elementary processes such as oxidative addition, reductive elimination, olefin and CO insertion into the metal-to-carbon bond have found extensive applications in organic synthesis. Other processes such as attack of nucleophiles on metal-bound CO and olefins, unique reactions of metal carbene complexes, and a-bond metatheses are among the topics of special interest to organometalhc chemists as well as to synthetic organic chemists. Our aim is to provide the reader with detailed accounts of elementary processes with the hope that the information provided here is used for further development of molecular catalysis. 

The synthesis of monocyclic 3-amino-P-lactams by the photolytic reaction of imines with pentacarbonyl[(dibenzylamino)carbene]chromium(0) was developed by Hegedus and co-workers [74]. These reactions are closely related to the previously described [2 -h 2]-cycloaddition reactions in that they are thought to involve attack of the imine nitrogen on a photogenerated, metal-bound ketene, followed by ring closure (Scheme 15). In a synthesis of a nocardicin precursor, optically active imine trimer 122 was photolyzed with carbene complex 123 providing a 46% yield of a 1 1 diastereomeric mixture of lactams... 

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